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OVERNIGHT CAMPAIGN: Oppo-season

The battle for the Senate is shifting fully into opposition research season after Georgia's Tuesday primary decided one of the final marquee Senate matchups.

Campaigns across the country are beginning to crack their research books to leak embarrassing and incriminating stories about their opponents, seeking to disqualify them as the general election season heats up.

Opposition research dumps, always a key facet of campaigns, have become even more important with shrinking newsrooms and burgeoning outside groups such as American Bridge on the left and, this cycle, the GOP’s response with America Rising. At the same time, what used to be “October surprises” are now coming earlier as campaigns and super-PACs spend on early TV and candidates look to damage each other in the spring and summer.

Expect to see many more stories in the coming weeks as campaigns look to plant the stories they want to feature in coming attack ads.

SENATE SHOWDOWN

MT-SEN (WALSH): Sen. John Walsh (D-Mont.) is under fire for questions of plagiarism. A New York Timesreport out Wednesday finds that the senator copied at least a quarter of his thesis written while he was at the United States Army War College from other authors without attributing the information to them. When presented with multiple examples of passages in his paper copied directly from other sources, Walsh told The Times on Tuesday that he “didn’t do anything intentional.”

GA-SEN (OPEN): David Perdue (R) won his Senate primary Tuesday night, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee responded with a video that featuring a slew of negative comments from Perdue’s primary opponents to paint the businessman as an out-of-touch elitist.

MI-SEN (OPEN): Republican candidate Terri Lynn Land released a new adattacking her opponent Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) as a “roadblock to Michigan’s potential” who has voted to create jobs overseas. Peters's campaign fired back, questioning the source of the nearly $3 million personal contribution she’s made to her campaign and urged her to stop spending campaign cash until these questions are answered.

NC-SEN (HAGAN): A new ad out by Patriot Majority USA links North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis to the billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, charging that they treat Tillis “like he’s one of the family.” The spot, backed by a $1.1 million buy, accuses Tillis of supporting tax breaks for the wealthy while freezing teachers’ salaries and raising costs for North Carolina seniors.

IA-SEN (OPEN): Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) missed three quarters of Veterans’ Affairs Committee meetings over the two-year period he was a member, sparking Republican criticism that he has shown little concern for the conditions of veterans’ health care. With the VA wrapped up in scandal, this attendance record could bear bad news for Braley on the campaign trail.

Sarah Palin also endorsed Carr on Wednesday, calling him the “new voice Tennessee needs” in the Senate in a Facebook post. She thanked Alexander “for the respect and integrity you’ve shown” during his tenure in Washington, but said that “the time has come for new leaders who are willing to stand up to the political establishments and the Obama administration and say, ‘no mas!’” She also said his votes for “amnesty, cash for clunkers, bailouts” and other issues had “marred” Alexander’s record.

GET OUT THE VOTE: The Republican Party is trying to capture more voters by using the Internet. The GOP launched an online initiative Wednesday, a new Register.gop website that the party hopes will increase the number of people registering to vote and support Republican candidates.

The National Rifle Association launched its own push to increase voter turnout Wednesday, releasing a 30-second video ad featuring a father revealing to his son a box that appears to have a handgun in it. The father tells his son that he has what’s inside the box because “it’s important I protect our family. And our rights.” At the close of the ad, the father reveals a voter registration card to his son. The spot is part of the NRA’s larger “Trigger the Vote” campaign, aimed at motivating gun-rights advocates to vote.

BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE

HI-1 (OPEN): VoteVets.org and its Vote Vets Action Fund will take to the airnext week in support of state Rep. Mark Takai (D), one of seven candidates seeking the Democratic nomination. The positive spot touts Takai’s own military service and praises Takai for continuing “that tradition of service” in office by working to help veterans get the care they need.

IA-2 (LOEBSACK): Sen. Paul Rand (R-Ky.) will attend a fundraiser for Republican candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) while in Iowa at the beginning of August, her campaign announced Tuesday.

It is a slight decline in support for Trivedi from a January poll, but the survey found that when voters were read positive messages about both candidates, the two were dead even, polling at 38 percent.

MI-08 (ROGERS): Former state Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R) leads state Rep. Tom McMillin (R) by 12 points, 45-33 percent, in a new survey of the GOP primary to replace retiring Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.). When voters are told Rogers has endorsed Bishop, his lead expands to 20 percent.

CHRISTIE: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) stood by previous comments that Colorado’s legalization of marijuana was harmful to the state’s quality of life during a trip to the state to campaign for GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez. “I meant what I said,” Christie said. “I don’t agree on that one – that’s all…We’ve got to stop in public life worrying about making everybody happy. We’re not going to agree all the time.”